London International tickets

[mangyiscute]

Hi, so I am taking a eurostar train tomorrow, and in the morning I am travelling to St Pancras from Reading. Just for reassurance, I want to check that I have the correct ticket.
I am planning on purchasing this ticket: https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=RDG&dest=LNE&grpo=0403&rlc=YNG&rte=801&ldn=1&tkt=EVR which does not have any time restrictions.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Just buy it online and collect from the TVM tomorrow. The forum's site will do it easily enough I believe. Probably significantly less likely to encounter difficulties obtaining it if you do it yourself online. Destination is LNE.

The ticket itself is fine. Make sure you can produce your Eurostar ticket at all times when using it.

 

[mangyiscute]

Is it able to be purchased from a gwr ticket machine? I need to check with those who I'm travelling with whether they need returns, have railcards etc, so it might be handy to not have to buy them before reaching the station

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Is it able to be purchased from a gwr ticket machine? I need to check with those who I'm travelling with whether they need returns, have railcards etc, so it might be handy to not have to buy them before reaching the station

No, you won't be able to buy it from a self service machine unfortunately.

Obtaining that ticket from a ticket office may be an uphill battle - it depends on the competency and enthusiasm of the clerk - who probably hasn't issued one for a while, if at all. You'd hope Reading would be a reasonably competent ticket office.

 

[mangyiscute]

I've always been fine with ordering tickets on my phone and then collecting them pretty much instantly from a ticket machine, so I think I'll try that again, unless anyone advises otherwise (is trainsplit/this forums site fine with that?)

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

I've always been fine with ordering tickets on my phone and then collecting them pretty much instantly from a ticket machine, so I think I'll try that again, unless anyone advises otherwise (is trainsplit/this forums site fine with that?)

Very few websites sell these tickets. You need to see if it recognises the LNE location and can find fares. Most train operator apps etc won't work.

This forum's website will let you collect relatively instantly.

 

[Mainline421]

I've always been fine with ordering tickets on my phone and then collecting them pretty much instantly from a ticket machine, so I think I'll try that again, unless anyone advises otherwise (is trainsplit/this forums site fine with that?)

While that will most likely work, if you're at the station you'd be better off just buying it at the ticket office. Contrary to what's posted here it's very unlikely to be any problem

 

[karo]

Very few websites sell these tickets. You need to see if it recognises the LNE location and can find fares. Most train operator apps etc won't work.

Is there a reason for this?

 

[CyrusWuff]

Is there a reason for this?

You're supposed to provide proof of an appropriate continental booking (which essentially means Eurostar nowadays) to buy them.

 

[bspahh]

While that will most likely work, if you're at the station you'd be better off just buying it at the ticket office. Contrary to what's posted here it's very unlikely to be any problem

I tried to buy a ticket to LNE from a ticket office. They checked with a supervisor and said I needed a Euro Standard Return instead of a Euro High Saver Return. I was travelling on Saturdays in both directions, and the difference between the tickets are restrictions from Monday to Friday. I ended up getting them refunded and used the cheaper ticket.

The next time I travelled, I tried https://tickets.railforums.co.uk/ but some tickets were not available, from a glitch in the data feed. I emailed the support and they sorted it out in a few hours and I was able to buy them.

I've never been delayed enough to need to test out the CIV protection.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I tried to buy a ticket to LNE from a ticket office. They checked with a supervisor and said I needed a Euro Standard Return instead of a Euro High Saver Return. I was travelling on Saturdays in both directions, and the difference were from restrictions from Monday to Friday. I ended up getting them refunded and used the cheaper ticket.

The next time I travelled, I tried https://tickets.railforums.co.uk/ but some tickets were not available, from a glitch in the data feed. I emailed the support and they sorted it out in a few hours and I was able to buy them.

I've never been delayed enough to need to test out the CIV protection.

Which ticket office?

 

[bspahh]

Which ticket office?

Ely

 

[AlterEgo]

Avanti’s site will sell you CIV tickets from London International. I have one for this Friday.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Ely

Ah thought you were meaning LNER , I did wonder.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Avanti’s site will sell you CIV tickets from London International. I have one for this Friday.

Have you collected/printed it yet? If not, might be worth checking.

There has been an issue with the Avanti mobile app and subsequent booking confirmation shows LNE as a location, but when you actually collect the ticket, it is actually a Zone U1 to wherever ticket.

I'm not sure if the website ever had this issue.

 

[AlterEgo]

Have you collected/printed it yet? If not, might be worth checking.

There has been an issue with the Avanti mobile app and subsequent booking confirmation shows LNE as a location, but when you actually collect the ticket, it is actually a Zone U1 to wherever ticket.

I'm not sure if the website ever had this issue.

Yes, the ticket is fine, I collected it the past weekend.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Yes, the ticket is fine, I collected it the past weekend.

Excellent.

Good to see another site selling them, especially a TOC. I'd assume c2c will be the same given they should share technology with Avanti.

 

[yorkie]

I tried to buy a ticket to LNE from a ticket office. They checked with a supervisor and said I needed a Euro Standard Return instead of a Euro High Saver Return. I was travelling on Saturdays in both directions, and the difference between the tickets are restrictions from Monday to Friday. I ended up getting them refunded and used the cheaper ticket.

Not surprising, sadly. Asking for anything out of the ordinary can be a complete lottery at ticket offices; I often hear of reports of refusals to sell tickets for no genuine reason.

The next time I travelled, I tried https://tickets.railforums.co.uk/ but some tickets were not available, from a glitch in the data feed. I emailed the support and they sorted it out in a few hours and I was able to buy them.

Glad to hear it was sorted promptly

 

[AlterEgo]

Just to confirm once again Avanti have resolved that glitch discussed upthread - here's the ticket, now I remember to post a pic. The ticket is correctly marked as valid from London International (CIV).

No proof of travel was required and it was sold on the app without quibble.

 

[Adam Williams]

No proof of travel was required and it was sold on the app without quibble.

Can I ask if there was any friction in the booking process in the way of requiring you to declare you had a Eurostar ticket, or any special way of informing you about the requirements for purchasing the ticket?

If the TOCs aren't bothering at all with anything, then that's quite useful to know.

 

[AlterEgo]

Can I ask if there was any friction in the booking process in the way of requiring you to declare you had a Eurostar ticket, or any special way of informing you about the requirements for purchasing the ticket?

If the TOCs aren't bothering at all with anything, then that's quite useful to know.

Literally nothing whatsoever, it was booked on the Avanti app and there were no warnings, questions, or anything like that.

 

[175mph]

No, you won't be able to buy it from a self service machine unfortunately.

Obtaining that ticket from a ticket office may be an uphill battle - it depends on the competency and enthusiasm of the clerk - who probably hasn't issued one for a while, if at all. You'd hope Reading would be a reasonably competent ticket office.

From my recent experience (earlier this week actually) in using Reading station's ticket office, that hope feels like a reality.

 

[Birkonian]

Literally nothing whatsoever, it was booked on the Avanti app and there were no warnings, questions, or anything like that.

I often but tickets to/from LNE on Avanti's app.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Can I ask if there was any friction in the booking process in the way of requiring you to declare you had a Eurostar ticket, or any special way of informing you about the requirements for purchasing the ticket?

If the TOCs aren't bothering at all with anything, then that's quite useful to know.

The easiest / simplest approach within the industry would be to specify the need to hold a Eurostar ticket within the restriction code text for these Euro tickets. That way when you print the restriction code URL on the tickets it would be pretty clear as well as the text at TVMs etc.

You can still put a restriction code on the essentially unrestricted time Euro tickets too.

 

[mangyiscute]

I can confirm I ended up buying them from the Reading ticket office, and it was all fine, except at first they didn't sell me the "via Slough" one, then claimed the train had to stop at slough, I told them otherwise, they looked up some itineraries, saw I was right and sold me the correct ticket.